George Armstrong Custer – A Few Guerrilla Trivia Perspectives:
Described as hard driving and hard headed, George Armstrong Custer was also known dunderhead. Is that a fair description? Let’s look at a few events and facts. You can make your own conclusion – the Lord knows: historians have reached all kinds of conclusions about him.
As the son of an Ohio blacksmith, George lived a sparse existence. He actually met, Elizabeth, his future wife, while attending a school near the home of an aunt he was sent to live with, when his family couldn’t afford to support him. Elizabeth’s father, Judge Bacon, permitted George to work odd jobs around his property, but never permitted the boy into his home. Later, when George wanted to be a lawyer, the necessary funds weren’t available, so he got himself an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He still had to pass the entrance exam, when he arrived at West Point in June, 1857. At the time, there were 107 other cadet candidates, but after taking the exam, more than one third of the young men were eliminated. Along with 67 survivors, George began his undignified stint at the school. By the time he graduated in 1861, there were only 34 cadets left – and he ranked 34th. Not too distinguishing.
When the Civil War began, Custer was with General George Brinton McClellan’s staff and participated in the combat at Bull Run and Antietam in 1862. His star really rose during action at Gettysburg a year later. Some have credited his cavalry escapades with turning the tide of the battle and possibly the tide of the entire war. He even showed up at the surrender of Robert E. Lee to U.S. Grant at Appomattox. All of this combined to create an aura around the formerly floundering young man, and at the ripe old age of 23, George had risen to the rank of brigadier general.
Let’s skip ahead thirteen years to June 25, 1876. Here we find the still hot headed, driven and often flakey cavalryman, now in charge of the 7th Cavalry. Although he was no longer a brigadier general, and was lucky to be a lieutenant colonel, Custer was about to make real history – not necessarily the kind people look forward to making.
Photograph of Custer’s 7th Cavalry as they rode toward disaster.
Just a week or so before the U.S. birthday party – the Centennial – was to kick off in Philadelphia, Custer and his force left Fort Lincoln and rode along the Little Big Horn River. Nine days before the high jinks began with fireworks in Philly, our hero rode along the banks of the Little Big Horn River. His objective was to locate the amassed Cheyenne and Sioux warriors gathered there and keep them from getting away, so that other cavalry forces could circle around and take their village.
Drawing made in 1930 by a survivor, Big Beaver, that shows the village and the approaching troopers.
Some 4,000 warriors thought differently than Custer, and took true guerrilla tactics to defend themselves. Custer, in his own feverish mind, could not wait for reinforcements and assumed a take-no-prisoners attitude.
Portrait of George Custer as Commander of the 7th
Yes, there were other names that are part of the story: Benteen and Reno are the two most obvious. Their side of things are for another day.
An isolated Custer found himself singled out for the total outrage of the Sioux and Cheyenne. Having crossed the Little Big Horn River, the troops were driven back. They took refuge on a small piece or real estate today called ‘Last Stand Hill.’ When Reno and Benteen’s reinforcement attempts proved unsuccessful, the warriors obstructing their efforts were supposedly observed riding with flags taken from Custer and his command. This meant the fight was most likely already over – over so quickly.
To make the story shorter, not only did he get himself killed on the field of battle, known as the Little Big Horn, he also got his two brothers, Boston and Tom, killed. But that wasn’t the end of familial death. John Calhoun, his wife’s brother, and Autie Reed, his young nephew, rode into the valley of death with him. This really was a family affair. To round out the losses on the battlefield, there were five companies of troops, totaling 227, not including the four soon-to-be-dead family members.
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There have been arguments for generations about possible survivors of the massacre. There have been books written and movies made that offer up tales about survivors. HOWEVER, there really was one true and agreed upon survivor. Here’s his photograph. His name: Camanche.
What happened at ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ will remain one of those historic events that will always continue to spark argument, spark the imagination and continue to remain outside the complete understanding of us.
In an attempt to ‘understand,’ while celebrating the heroic bravery of Custer, Walt Whitman wrote “A Sonnet for Custer.” Here is a copy of the poem in Whitman’s own hand.
Many illustrated versions of the ‘Last Stand,’ and Custer’s heroism, were produced over the decades to follow. Here is one such example (even if the village of tents weren’t there – and Custer’s famous locks had been cut before leaving Ft. Lincoln).
Perhaps the most popular of all illustrations of the “supposed” event was produced by the Anheuser-Busch brewery and could be found in pubs and taverns and bars across North America.
The story (the truth, the fiction, the hoped-for tale) of George Armstrong Custer will continue to be unraveled and/or revealed, as time goes by. These are just some of the facts (not the fictions). Trivial bits of truth, here and there, make the Custer legend more and more attractive.
